"Love Potion No. 9" | |
---|---|
Single by The Clovers | |
B-side | "Stay Awhile" |
Released | July 1959 |
Recorded | June 8, 1959 |
Studio | Capitol (New York City) |
Genre | Doo-wop |
Length | 2:02 |
Label | United Artists |
Songwriter(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller |
Official Audio | |
"Love Potion No. 9" on YouTube |
"Love Potion Number Nine" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Searchers | ||||
from the album Meet the Searchers | ||||
B-side | "Hi-Heel Sneakers" | |||
Released | November 1964 | |||
Studio | Pye Studios, London, England | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:05 | |||
Label | Kapp KJB-27 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
Producer(s) | Tony Hatch | |||
The Searchers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official Audio | ||||
"Love Potion No. 9" on YouTube |
"Love Potion No. 9" is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by the Clovers, [1] who took it to No. 23 on the US as well as R&B charts that year. [2] [3] It reached #20 in Canada. [4]
The Searchers recorded it in 1964 and reached No.3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on Cash Box during the winter of 1965. [5]
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass recorded an instrumental version for their 1965 album Whipped Cream & Other Delights . [6]
The Coasters released their take in December 1971 with "D. W. Washburn" on the B-side. It reached No. 76 on the Billboard Pop chart and No. 96 on the Cash Box chart.
It is also track 1 on the studio album Two Days Away , released in 1977 by Elkie Brooks and produced by the song's writers Leiber and Stoller.
The song describes a man seeking help to find love. He enlists the help of a Romani person who determines, by means of palmistry, that he needs "love potion number nine". The potion, an aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street corner, who reacts by breaking his bottle of love potion.
In the LP release, at the ending of the song the Clovers used the alternative lyrics: [1]
I had so much fun that I'm going back again,
I wonder what'll happen with Love Potion Number Ten?
This version was used in the film American Graffiti and released on the LP version of the soundtrack, but replaced by the single version on the CD release.
The song was the basic premise of the 1992 film of the same name starring Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan.
Chart (1965) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [7] | 6 |
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade) [8] | 4 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [9] | 3 |
US Cash Box Top 100 | 2 |
West Germany (GfK) [10] | 23 |
The heavy metal band Tygers of Pan Tang recorded "Love Potion No. 9" in 1982. Their version charted in the UK, reaching No.45 in 1982. [11] Punk band MDC released their version of the song on their 1989 album Metal Devil Cokes [12] The White Stripes covered it live at the Gold Dollar in Detroit, Michigan, on July 14, 1997, including the alternative ending lyrics; this version was released in 2012 on the EP "Live On Bastille Day". [13] In 2016 the song was performed by John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell for BBC 6 Music Live. [14] It was released as a single by indie rock band The Wallies in November 2019 and has also been covered by punk rock group The Queers on their 2021 album Reverberation. [15] Rockapella also covered the song.
This song also gained popularity in Vietnam as US-based singer Nguyễn Hưng covered it in Vietnamese in 1998.
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood", "Charlie Brown", "Poison Ivy", and "Yakety Yak", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s. In 1987, they were the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber and composer Michael Stoller. As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.
The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s. They had a top 30 US hit in 1959 with the Leiber and Stoller song "Love Potion No. 9".
"Spanish Harlem" is a song recorded by Ben E. King in 1960 for Atco Records. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. "Spanish Harlem" was King's first hit away from The Drifters, peaking at number 15 on Billboard's rhythm and blues and number 10 in pop music chart.
"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
"Young Blood" is a song written by Doc Pomus along with the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit by The Coasters in 1957.
Eric Carmen is the debut album by American rock musician and singer-songwriter Eric Carmen. It is also his first of two self-titled albums, the other released in 1984. It peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard album chart upon its release in 1975, the highest position of his career, and generated the No. 2 pop single "All by Myself" in the same year. The song reached No. 1 on the Cashbox and Record World charts. The album also included two follow-up top 40 hits, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (#11), and "Sunrise" (#34), both of which charted in 1976.
"I Keep Forgettin" is a song by Chuck Jackson, written by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Gilbert Garfield. It appears on his second studio album Any Day Now. It peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard Top 100 and remained on the chart for 7 weeks. It did not chart on the R&B chart. This single is often cited as one of the most innovative yet least commercial singles written and produced by Leiber-Stoller.
"Chapel of Love" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, and made famous by The Dixie Cups in 1964, spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song tells of the happiness and excitement the narrator feels on her wedding day, for she and her love are going to the "chapel of love", and "[they'll] never be lonely anymore." Many other artists have recorded the song.
"Save the Last Dance for Me" is a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by American musical group the Drifters with Ben E. King on lead vocals. It has since been covered by several artists, including the DeFranco Family, Dolly Parton, and Michael Bublé.
"There Goes My Baby" is a song written by Ben E. King, Lover Patterson, George Treadwell and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for The Drifters. This was the first single by the second incarnation of the Drifters, who assumed the group name in 1958 after manager George Treadwell fired the remaining members of the original lineup. The Atlantic Records release was Ben E. King's debut recording as the lead singer of the group.
"Charlie Brown" is a popular Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song that was a top-ten hit for the Coasters in the spring of 1959. It went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, while "Venus" by Frankie Avalon was at No. 1. It did reach No. 1 in Canada. It was the first of three top-ten hits for the Coasters that year. It is best known for the phrase, "Why's everybody always pickin' on me?"
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by the words on his father's gravestone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him". It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, The Teddy Bears. The single spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958, while reaching No. 2 on the UK's New Musical Express chart. Peter & Gordon and Bobby Vinton later each experienced chart success with the song, in 1965 and 1968, respectively.
Love Potion No. 9 may refer to:
"Poison Ivy" is a popular song by American songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by the Coasters in 1959. It went to No.1 on the R&B chart, No.7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No.15 in the UK. This was their third top-ten hit of that year following "Charlie Brown" and "Along Came Jones".
"Is That All There Is?" is a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee in 1969. The song was originally performed by Georgia Brown in May 1967 for a television special. It was first recorded by disc jockey Dan Daniel in March 1968, but this was an unauthorized recording that went unissued at the songwriters' request. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968.
"I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" (also known as "I Keep Forgettin'") is a 1982 song by American singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, from his debut album If That's What It Takes (1982). It was written by McDonald and Ed Sanford. Released as a single, it peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles charts, #7 R&B and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"I (Who Have Nothing)" (sometimes billed as "I Who Have Nothing") is an English language cover of the Italian song "Uno dei Tanti" (English: "One of Many"), with music by Carlo Donida and lyrics by Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti. The initial version, "Uno dei Tanti", was performed by Joe Sentieri in 1961. The song first recorded in English by Ben E. King in 1963 with new lyrics by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
"Bossa Nova Baby" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded by Elvis Presley on January 22, 1963, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California as part of the soundtrack of the 1963 motion picture Fun in Acapulco. The song peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.
It's the Searchers is the third studio album by English rock band The Searchers. It features the band's famous hit singles "Needles and Pins" and "Don't Throw Your Love Away" as well as cover versions of some well known tracks originally recorded by Betty Everett, Carl Perkins, Don Gibson, The Drifters or Tommy Tucker. It was also the last Searchers album to feature singer Tony Jackson. The album peaked at No. 4 in the UK album chart.